True Detective Season Two will be its Most Divisive Season

True Detective is an anthology show. Every season, all the characters and plot details that fans enjoyed from the previous season are wiped clean. Early reviews are in for the first three episodes of True Detective’s second season, and it’s not exactly a resounding success.

More from HBO

We have not seen these episodes, so we can’t exactly make a judgment call. What we can do, however, is point out the most common theme in these reviews: True Detective season two is not as good as season one. And boy, are there mountains of comparisons.

This is to be expected. True Detective season one was a critical hit, and further proved that television can be a viable format for A-list stars. But ultimately the near-constant comparison of the two seasons is a damaging act. Season two of True Detective can’t possibly hold its own if it’s to be continually held down by what came before it.

Maybe the start of the new True Detective season is a tad lackluster; opinion is very much divided on that. But right off the bat, anyone that’s unable — or unwilling — to let go of the first season is going to have a harder time than people who are able to enjoy it on its own merits.

Because of the success of True Detective’s first season, season two will be its most divisive. As time moves on and season one is given more space to breathe, it will become easier to judge True Detective seasons entirely on their own merits.

But until then, expect True Detective season two to be a bit of a controversy. We’ll have our own reviews of True Detective season two starting with the first episode this Sunday.

Next: We'll have extensive coverage of True Detective season two.

More from Show Snob

Home/HBO